This invention relates in general to rail vehicles and in particular to a new and useful central buffer coupling for rail vehicles.
The invention relates to an elastic articulation of a central buffer coupling for rail vehicles, with a housing secured on the vehicle and with a drawbar traversing the housing at equal spacing, where rings of rubber or plastic prestressed normal to the coupled axle are arranged between the housing and the drawbar and the drawbar as well as the inside of the housing have peripheral cams directed toward each other, and where the housing and the drawbar have an oval cross-section and the rings are held spaced by the cams.
In German OS No. 27 01 984, referring to an elastic articulation, the horizontal swivel movements of the drawbar are made possible by the articulation of the housing through vertical pins on the vehicle, while vertical swivel movements and the rotational movements about the coupled axle are made possible by the elastic suspension of the drawbar with defined reset. This elastic articulation using several elastic rings has proved fully satisfactory under operating conditions in their area of use for heavy rail vehicles. In the case of lighter and smaller rail vehicles, as a rule, neither the depth needed for the installation nor the height needed for the pin suspension exists. In consideration of the existing installation height, therefore, the housing was secured on the vehicle, and in order to reduce the installation depth the spring support was reduced to one ring. It was found that the occurring tensile and compressive forces are indeed absorbed by one ring, but by moving the major cross-section of the pull rod into the horizontal plane, a horizontal reset is no longer provided.